The morning started with the purchase of the local tipple…Deeside Water. It’s supposed to have healing properties so I got a couple of bottles from the service station. I mean, you can’t have too much of a good thing. I’ve had so much “healing water” on this trip, I must be super human by now! It was then off to Balmoral, making our way through the blizzard of snow. Ok, so it wasn’t a blizzard, but it definitely was snowing. I probably wouldn’t go racing back to Balmoral because, although it is very pretty and set in such a gorgeous landscape, £8.00 just to see the ballroom is a tad steep in my book. How many dead animal heads can you fit on a wall??? The grounds were lovely and the actual building is beautiful but I wish the Scottish would stop calling any old house a castle. It reminds me of that favourite Australian movie. Just because you consider it YOUR castle, doesn’t actually mean it is one! Balmoral, by the way, is a hunting lodge. Next it was off to Edinburgh and although we were sure we were travelling the same road as yesterday, the sat nav told us differently and we really were going south to the capital rather than back to Inverness. Edinburgh reminds me of Ireland for some reason, though I think they could do with giving the place a good scrub. The castle is something to behold….and yes, this one really is a castle! At last!! There’s been a castle on this spot since the 12th century and this castle was occupied until 1603. It later became a military base and is today still officially in the hands of the Ministry of Defence. After wandering the streets for a while, it was off to a “secret location”, where we arrived at about 11pm, luckily right at the steps of a hostel! Thank you Universe!